While writing this week’s column, these lyrics by Louis Armstrong popped into my head:

…Life can be so sweet On the sunny side of the street…

When I think “sunny,” I think of the wonderful Treo accessory cases that were reviewed this week. I think of a fiscal quarter with record sell-through of Treos. And, I think of the smiles on the faces of the recipients of holiday generosity. I’m a big fan of the sunny side of the street.

So as we roll into the weekend before the Christmas holiday, let’s think sunny thoughts.

Oh yeah, for a little while, let’s spend some time talkin’ Treo!

Palm News

Palm Reports Financial Results:

Needless to say, the top story for Palm this week was their earnings report. Depending on where you got your news, you could easily walk away with two completely different pictures regarding the health of the company.

Palm’s release focused on the positive (not a surprise) as they focused on their record sell-through of Treo smartphones: 617,000 units, up 42 percent year over year and up 8 percent sequentially. And this was accomplished without the Treo 750 in the pipeline in the US.

The following are examples of how various outlets interpreted the results.

"With a key new product missing from store shelves this holiday season, Palm’s second-quarter earnings, announced Tuesday, were down 12% to $393 million. Net income was $12.8 million, or 12 cents per share, which missed analysts expectations of 15 cents per share.

The company’s outlook for the third quarter did nothing to impress analyst and investors. The company said it expects revenue between $400 million and $410 million and earnings at between 11 cents and 13 cents per share, while analysts had pegged it closer to $417 million in revenue and 16 cents per share in earnings."

Definitely not sunny. Neither is the next one.

Unstrung

"Palm looks like what Todd Kort, principal wireless analyst for Gartner Inc., calls ‘an increasingly moribund company that is mostly living off the goodwill engendered as a result of their pioneering efforts in the PDA and smartphone businesses.’ "

ZDNet: “Dancing with Elephants”

This blog is called “Between the Lines,” which is quite appropriate as Larry Dignan makes some interesting observations about Palm’s results and elephants (four of them):

Elephant 1: Palm results are inconsistent and cutting the next quarter's outlook isn't going to help matters. Palm can blame carriers for Treo delays, but ultimately it looks like an excuse. And excuses are tools of incompetence.

Elephant 2: International expansion. Palm needs to become global and the company is making progress. About 35 percent of Palm's sales come from abroad. What it really needs is to generate a hit in Asia with its mobile-happy population. Most of Palm's conference call focused on Europe.

Elephant 3: Palm is tethered to business sales. Colligan said that business users are tracking toward 40 percent of sales. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, these users aren't the ones to buy the latest greatest Treo at the drop of a hat. The Treo is a tool not a fashion statement. As smartphones move downstream, Palm will need to generate some Apple-like love for its products.

Elephant 4: There is a lot more competition for Palm, which used to have the smartphone market largely to itself. That's no longer the case with Samsung's Blackjack, RIM tinkering in the market and the Motorola Q. Sure you can argue that these offerings are deficient–as Colligan did–but everything has a price. Meanwhile, Colligan noted that the recent flurry of smartphones hitting the market isn't likely to last.

Dieter writes:

"Listening to the numbers, I heard a few neat things. One is that Palm expects their operating costs to rise slightly next quarter. Why? Increased costs in marketing and in R&D. Specifically, Colligan said we can probably expect a similar number of product introductions in 2007 as we saw in 2006 (though it must be said that he was much softer on this claim than he were a year ago when he virtually guaranteed 4 new Treos - a claim Palm delivered on). Even more specifically, Palm is investing heavily in software R&D."

So it looks a little half empty/ a little half full. For sure 2007 is shaping up to be a key year for the company.

Palm had a few other noteworthy announcements that served to reinforce their global expansion message: AllTel (Treo 700wx), Orange France (Treo 680), and SingTel (Treo 680)

Talkin’ Treo 680

Boston Globe

Mark Baard writes:

"The Treo is as good as any business productivity tool I've seen, especially for the money (about $200 after a $100 rebate, with a two-year contract)."

Sammy, who runs the Palm Addict site, had this to say about the Treo 680:

"… if I had to give the device a score I'd give it a 8.5 out of 10 which is very good but battery life and the camera could be improved. However this is the device for me, it's wonderful and I can live with the battery and the camera too. I am a person who hates change so will rarely change my PDA / Smartphone so the Treo 680 has to last and I am confident that it will be my device of choice for some time to come. It's a great piece of hardware, Palm get an extended battery for it sorted and I will give it 9.5 out of 10. In my opinion it's one of the best PDA/Smartphone devices that I have ever used."

PDA Street

PDA Street’s Troy Dreier writes:

"The 680 is an attractive addition to the Treo line, but we wish a little more innovation and value had been packed into it. While other smartphone makers are driving the category, Palm is resting with small refinements. If the Treo can't keep up with its competitors, it's going to fall behind."

Talkin’ Treo 750

Mobile Burn

"The Treo 750v represents a good effort from Palm, widening its consumer base and establishing its brand in competitor's territory. The device kept most of Palm's strengths, and some of the exclusive customizations are very handy - especially the comprehensive speed dial solution and the mechanical switch for silent mode."

…However, if you are a Palm fan, this Treo represents an important breakthrough in the company's history. With the creativity and reliability that Palm has proved throughout the years, we hope to see more exciting devices in the future."

Recent TreoCentral Guides, Reviews & More

Review: Vaja i-Volution Top with Visor Cover - By Harv Laser

Harv takes a look at what he calls "the Rolls Royce of leather cases" by Vaja for the Palm Treo 700 series.

He writes:

"Vaja's new i-Volution "Top with Visor cover" case for the Treo 700 series is a work of art. A thing of joy. No question it's a status symbol, and at $120.00 plus plus, it's undeniably expensive. It provides beautiful, stylish protection and no other case maker I know of produces anything approaching Vaja's attention to detail and quality of craftsmanship, or as many customization choices. If I could plug my charging cable in next to or through the leather hinge, I'd be tempted to call it "perfect." But with the addition of the new, and in my opinion, needed window in the lid, I will call it a leap forward from the earlier, windowless T77 case. Whether you're just struck with a sudden urge to indulge yourself, or give a fellow Treo owner the ultimate leather case, I don't think you need look any further."

Review: HealthFile Plus - By Jay Gross

Jay checks out this convenient program that lets you keep your medical history close at hand.

Jay concludes:

"Although it doesn’t take advantage of the Treo’s own database capabilities, HealthFile Plus offers considerable, dedicated data management power. Its included companion, which runs in a PC, performs printouts and graphing, and makes data entry easy."

The Stylus Pen combo is a simple and effective tool. In the package you get three replacement stylus/pen combos for the Treo 750 and three extra uppers for use with the Treo 680.

Doug concludes:

"At 14.95, these are appropriately priced. However, they are not worth the shipping price if that’s all you’re getting. If you order anything else from the TreoCentral store, make sure to throw a three pack of these in your basket."

Note: Another Stylus option (sans pen) is the Smartphone Experts Solid Stylus reviewed by Jay Gross last week.

Elsewhere in the World of Treo

Liberty Control, the program from Wagware that lets you remotely control your laptop or desktop with your Treo, has been updated to include support for Mozilla Firefox. It was reviewed by TreoCentral earlier this year. According to a spokesperson from Wagware, the feedback from members of the TreoCentral community played a big part in this new version which can be obtained here

News: Bluetooth Headset with Noise Cancellation Unveiled

This week, Aliph, a leading developer of mobile audio products that deliver exceptional quality, introduced the Jawbone Bluetooth headset. Available exclusively from Cingular Wireless (for $120), Jawbone is the first adaptive Bluetooth headset with "Noise Shield" technology, which virtually eliminates background noise so calls are clearer. Jawbone's audio performance is further enhanced by an award-winning design by internationally acclaimed product designer Yves Behar, which maximizes comfort and functional simplicity. For a first look at this headset, read this week’s Personal Technology column by The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg.

Christopher Meinck looks at this case for 700 series Treos.

"Smartphone Experts have exceeded my expectations when it comes to the style, materials and design of the UltraSlim case. The quality of the materials reminded me of those found in more expensive cases from manufacturers such as Sena and Vaja. The fit of the case is not ideal and I'm hoping we'll see improvements in future cases from SPE. In the end, I found the Smartphone Experts UltraSlim case to be an elegant, affordable case, but one that has room for improvement."

If you are interested in a second opinion, this case was reviewed by TreoCentral’s Jay Gross in October.

Review: Covertec Horizontal Case – One Case Fits All

Here’s a case that works with the new Treo 680, as well as the other Treos. Plus it is available in a lot of colors (Black, Tan, Red, Snow White, Baby Blue, Baby Pink, Orange, Raspberry, Baby Green and Blue Lagoon).

Andrew provides his thoughts:

"…there is no doubt that the Covertec Horizontal Case is quite unique, comfortable to wear, offering very good if somewhat bulky protection for your Treo and now that it’s available in these additional bright colours it will be rather hard to misplace it…"

Review: Resco Backup

Sion Phillips over at MyTreo.net took a look at this backup program:

"Overall, I believe Resco Backup to be the best software of its type. If you want an easy to use application that will completely backup your Treo to the SD card, then I suggest you try the free 14-day trial version… Our members seem to like this program as much as I do as it has been downloaded nearly 5,000 times and rated 9 out of 10 possible stars."

Andrew at Treonauts, takes a look at this budget priced Bluetooth headset and compares it to some other popular ones (Motorola H700, Jabra JX10, Palm Wireless Headset):

"Overall, if you’re specifically concerned about your budget when making a Bluetooth headset purchasing decision for your Treo I can very highly recommend the Jabra BT125 which at only $39.95 is an unmissable buy. Now if only it had USB charging capabilities it would be an absolute steal…"

Trends: Smartphone Acceptance on the Rise

According to The NPD Group, 715,000** smartphones were sold from January to October of this year. Why this rise in sales? Some of the contributing factors include a decline in price (by 10% since January), the growing demand for e-mail on-the-go, and the significantly greater data storage capacity that smartphones offer over standard phones.

Which smartphones were among the top sellers this year?

** While its nice to see the Treo taking 2 out of the top 5, it is clear that “sell-through and sales mean two different things.

Opinion: Waiting for iPhone? Consider a Treo instead

That’s Jason O’Grady’s thought in his blog entry:

Readers of this blog already know that I think that the Treo 700p is still the best smartphone for Mac users. Not only does the Treo 700p sync with Mac OS X right out of the box, but there's also a ton of great software available for the Palm OS that Macheads will like."

Endnotes & Ponderables:

Last week I wrote about DWT (Driving While Texting).

Well, here’s a follow-on story that had me shaking my head.

Apparently, a Seattle man caused a four-car pile-up that involved 28 passengers on I-5 while playing around with his Blackberry while in the express lanes. Yikes!

That’s such a “duh!” Yet, I don’t doubt that there will be legislation soon that requires mobile device manufacturers to place “Please Text Responsibly” messages everywhere.

Switching gears (pun definitely intended), let’s end with a holiday story.

Build A Cookie/Help a Child

Digital marketing agency, Carat Fusion, has created an online fundraiser for the holidays. Visitors to a special holiday page on the company’s website are invited to bake and decorate a virtual gingerbread cookie, using such classic adornments as candy canes, gumdrop buttons and your own uploaded face.

For every cookie created through December 22 , Carat Fusion will donate a dollar to the international Save the Children charity.

That’s a wrap!

Best wishes to you and yours this holiday season!

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